Ever try moving away from Klipsch speakers?

[Bananas and Blow]

My main system has a set of Forte IV's. They are my favorite speakers I've ever owned, and I've owned a few. I'm a rocker at heart and nothing pounds quite like a Forte in my experience. I'm temporary relocated away from my system in an apartment for 5 months. I brought some Dynaudio Special 40 speakers which do some things nicely. I've got them paired with my recently acquired Yamaha A-s1200. The combo is an utter snooze-fest compared to my Fortes. It's not a good pairing, to say the least. Listening to music is dull and uninvolving. It finally hit me today that what I'm missing is the live Klipsch sound. Nothing comes close in my experience. I'm feverishly attempting to track down some Heresy to get me by until I get back to my beloved Fortes. Heaven help the audiophile who doesn't have his Klipsch speakers.

[Klipschtastic]

I have always thought about trying other speakers and have tried a few. It all started with RF3s in the late 90s. I bought them locally because that’s what the hifi store mostly had where I live. I enjoyed them for 15 years and then bought some KLF20s. Wow!  These things are beasts. Nice step up. They were my main speakers in my living room until last year when the fever hit me again. I was just so intrigued by those absurdly massive Cornwalls, I ordered a set from Paducah home theater. Even bigger sound with smoother and wider mids. The drivers are more seamlessly integrated. Another step up!  I think this is the top for me. 
Out of curiosity since I haven’t heard much other than Klipsch over the years, I ordered some JBL L100 classics to see if I’d like them better. They were actually pretty good but the Cornwalls have better instrument separation, air and space. They also have a bigger and broader soundstage and nothing beats them on percussive slam. The JBLs would have been keepers if I didn’t already have the Cornwalls. Actually, check that because they still would’ve had a battle with the KLF20s. With no hifi shops around here anymore, I just got curious. My question was answered. 
I got an old Harman Kardon 430 to run the Cornwalls. I listen to a wide range of music but like you rock is central to my mix. Played the whole AC/DC Back in Black album last night and man it was absolutely perfect. At a modest 70db you get everything you’d want out of it. Bass, percussive slam, detail, layering and lively sound that’s not fatiguing or harsh. Unreal. 

[Shakeydeal]

I've owned over 30 different speakers in the last 25 years. These were probably the last ten I've had that weren't Klipsch.

 

Spatial Audio X3

Reference 3a Grand Veena

Green Mountain Audio Continuum 3

Wilson Audio Sophia

Piega P10

Von Schweikert VR4 Gen III HSE

PBN Montana EPS3

PBN Montana SP2

Magnepan 3.5r

Silverline Sonata II

 

Most of these were very good and brought some things to the table that horns don't. But at the end of the day, the immediacy and dynamics of horns win. For now.....

 

 

[John Chi-town]

8 hours ago, Bananas and Blow said:

My main system has a set of Forte IV's. They are my favorite speakers I've ever owned, and I've owned a few. I'm a rocker at heart and nothing pounds quite like a Forte in my experience. I'm temporary relocated away from my system in an apartment for 5 months. I brought some Dynaudio Special 40 speakers which do some things nicely. I've got them paired with my recently acquired Yamaha A-s1200. The combo is an utter snooze-fest compared to my Fortes. It's not a good pairing, to say the least. Listening to music is dull and uninvolving. It finally hit me today that what I'm missing is the live Klipsch sound. Nothing comes close in my experience. I'm feverishly attempting to track down some Heresy to get me by until I get back to my beloved Fortes. Heaven help the audiophile who doesn't have his Klipsch speakers.

 

My first real system was purchased in 1992, with a brand-new pair of forte II.  I owned for 30 years prior to selling to a forum member and purchasing forte IV.  INMHO one of the best all-around speakers by any manufacturer.  Are there better speakers?  Of course.  However, to my ears the forte line focuses on the whole sound, rather than specialize in a certain area.  I never bought in to "chasing the dragon".  At 57, these will be my last speaker purchase, and I am more than satisfied with my decision.  I hope you are reunited with your fortes soon. 

[Klipschtastic]

I heard the fortes at the Crutchfield store. In my opinion they beat everything in there with the couple of tracks I played. Including the $10k Wharfdales they had. If I didn’t know speakers and had no preconceived notions I would have bought the Fortes no contest. I already had the the Cornwalls though. Either way you can’t lose. 

[OO1]

10 hours ago, Bananas and Blow said:

  Klipsch speakers.

  2 Giants 

 

[haydukej]

Assuming the main focus of this viddy is the visual candy followed by the audio spread? They don't specify what mic on the camera was used so critical omission there, but was surprised to hear the left channel all but fade out around 1:27. I listened through Pro Media 2.1 and sounded just fine overall.

[Audible Nectar]

The only other brand(s) I ever really considered outside of Klipsch were Altec and JBL (two sides of the same coin), particularly the vintage JBL like the Sovereign and Apollo series cabinets and similars employing the LE15/LE85-DLH175-375 midranges/077 cat's eye tweeters and other vintage horn setups of similar thinking......but ultimately when it came to the VALUE presented by the original Klipsch Heritage line of speakers, and how well those ended up being addressed in the aftermarket as well as having a pretty continuous "universal" ability to obtain service (drivers still sold by Klipsch and even Dean will build Klipsch authorized replacement networks for those line of speakers) tells me that I chose wisely and "saw the future" when deciding to invest in my Heritage cabs some 20+ years ago. 

 

While it is true that the JBL drivers are of a better class than the Heritage line used through that time, the Klipsch got more "results for the input" on the value side, and looking out into the future all those years ago told me that the Klipsch lasted longer (no surround refoams every 10 years) along with knowing that any drivers going dead otherwise would be an extreme cost that I probably could not "self insure" without brain a bank breaker in and of itself with the JBLs. It was sufficiently easy to obtain a trio of matched-driver Cornwall pairs and know that I could maintain and take care of them for a lifetime of service, and would be able to afford to "take care of them" because there were so many options in the marketplace to allow for that service to be done that the Cornwalls and Belles made sense as "life investments". Great results from affordable and common parts.

 

There's always "better" but within the realm of "pretty damned good" and never really having to worry much about doing it all over again made it such that Klipsch was the right choice. Heritage really are "speakers for life" and the genius of the original PWK designs evident. If one kept the cabs in good shape one could completely rebuild the innards and run 'em for another 30-50 years. There's little else I could ever say that about any other product in ANY category, let alone audio, so I know I made the right choice. I literally wore out the first HT kit that drove those Cornwalls but the speakers are still here with a newer Mac core running the show. Took almost 20 years to wear out an amp but I found a way......tens of thousands of hours.....but the Cornwalls are still "The Speaker Of The House". Can't justify moving the beasts for anything else.

 

[Flevoman]

5 hours ago, Shakeydeal said:

Most of these were very good and brought some things to the table that horns don't. 

Just curious, but like what? 

[Shakeydeal]

8 minutes ago, Flevoman said:

Just curious, but like what? 

 

I've had speakers that image better, with better soundstage depth. Not a huge deal breaker for me though. And a couple had deeper and more controlled bass. But none of these speakers could be driven with a handful of watts.

[Flevoman]

If I may contribute as well. I've never had a brand other than Klipsch. It all started with the RF3, and then all the subsequent speakers have been from the Heritage series. I've visited several audio shows and listened to various high-end speakers at audio stores. Sometimes it didn't sound particularly special, and sometimes it sounded very good, but I still missed that enjoyable live feeling, the dynamism that I love with Klipsch.

This was actually exactly my experience at an audio show I visited with my brother two weeks ago. They had the most expensive speakers and sets on display. Truly, with everything, we shared the same opinion; it could sound grand or accurately reproduce the sound. But with all of them, we missed that distinctive thing that Klipsch has—the gripping sensation, the live feeling, the voices that can sound so real.

Except for one set, the B&W 801... Honestly, I was quite impressed with how the vocals sounded. I would have liked to hear this next to the La Scala and see how it would compare. But well, a speaker set for 45,000... 🙄 And the low end was nothing, too fat and too heavy. So no... no other brand has convinced me yet; I don't expect to part with my AL-5 anytime soon...

[Flevoman]

21 minutes ago, Shakeydeal said:

 

I've had speakers that image better, with better soundstage depth. Not a huge deal breaker for me though. And a couple had deeper and more controlled bass. But none of these speakers could be driven with a handful of watts.

And which speakers do you own atm? 

[Shakeydeal]

Lascala II with dual subs.

[wuzzzer]

Nope.  I’ve only owned Klipsch for the past 25+ years and that’s all I’ll ever own.

 

And that doesn’t only apply to regular speakers.  Headphones, ear buds, Bluetooth speakers, etc.  All Klipsch.

[DirtyErnie]

Set up a pair of Wharfedale W70's for my father-in-law.  They sound nice, pretty smooth, but they do get a little congested and don't have the dynamics.  
The more horns I get, the more horns I want.

[the real Duke Spinner]

On 11/29/2023 at 12:42 AM, Bananas and Blow said:

what I'm missing is the live Klipsch sound. Nothing comes close

Yep

[Shakeydeal]

36 minutes ago, the real Duke Spinner said:

Yep

 

Except for that bottom feeder that was used as a PA speaker. That one is pure sh*t....

 

 

 

[wuzzzer]

Sometimes I take my Klipsch speakers for granted.  A good example is when I go on vacation or away from home for an extended period of time.  I get used to watching TV, listening to music, etc on whatever TV is available.  Then when I return home I appreciate what I have even more.

[whell]

If someone is tuned in to a specific characteristic of a loudspeaker: imaging, soundstage width/depth, a specific timbre or coloration that they tend to like, whatever, they'll gravitate to a speaker that gives them what they want.  I think we horn-heads gravitate to the dynamics of speakers like Klipsch. 

 

Folks who don't crave dynamics will look to other speaker types or brands, and would probably describe the sonic delivery of a horn speaker as being too "in-your-face".  This doesn't mean other speakers are bad, or that Klipsch speakers are lacking.  Rather, we all just like what we like. 

[tragusa3]

I enjoy having other brands too.  I have 5-6 pairs now and I hope to have a larger collection at some point.  

 

Each speaker has a different attitude and suits a different mood.  If I'm wanting to sit alone in the dark, in a small room with a glass of wine and some softer, delicate music,  the Infinity Kappa 6 are my preference.  If I'm in a spunky mood and having whiskey with a game of pool and blues, the Heresy are my taste.  If I want to throw in a concert bluray and feel like I'm in a stadium with a cold beer, Khorns!!!

 

I'll let you all know what drink goes with the Polks....   LOL